Five Questions with Bill Armstrong

NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Five Questions With ..." runs every Tuesday. We talk to key figures in the game and ask them questions to gain insight into their lives, careers and the latest news.
The latest edition features Bill Armstrong, who was hired as general manager of the Arizona Coyotes on Sept. 17. Armstrong previously worked for 16 years with the St. Louis Blues, starting as an amateur scout in 2004 before being promoted to director of amateur scouting in 2010. The 50-year-old was named assistant GM in 2018 and won the Stanley Cup with St. Louis last season. That championship was the third of Armstrong's career; he won the Memorial Cup in 1990 as a junior player with Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League, scoring the tournament-winning goal in the second overtime, then the Calder Cup as an assistant with Providence of the American Hockey League in 1999.

Bill Armstrong knew long ago he preferred to work in the front office of an NHL team as opposed to behind the bench.
The new Arizona Coyotes general manager had just finished his fourth straight winning season as a coach in the minor leagues in the spring of 2004, his second with Trenton of the ECHL after two seasons with Providence in the American Hockey League.
But it wasn't the road he wanted to travel. He was eager to pursue a front-office role.
"One hundred percent," Armstrong told NHL.com. "There wasn't a bone left in me that wanted to coach. … I was done. I wanted to get into scouting. What coaching for me was in my life was like going to law school. Somebody goes through a four-year [program], that's what it was. I learned how to coach so I know how to manage them."
Armstrong had no shortage of mentors over the years that led him to being hired as GM of the Coyotes on Sept. 17. He worked as an assistant for coach Peter Laviolette in Providence for two seasons (1998-2000), where together they won the Calder Cup in 1999. When he first joined the St. Louis Blues as an amateur scout in 2004, he worked with Jarmo Kekalainen, who became GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2013. Armstrong worked his way up the ranks and was an assistant GM for the Blues when they won the Stanley Cup last season.
"All of them played a role," Armstrong said. "It's like when someone says a village raises your children. It's kind of like all those guys helped me, and I have great relationships with all of them.
"I've been fortunate. Look at the people who have been around me -- Marty Brodeur, Larry Robinson, Al MacInnis, Keith Tkachuk … I've been spoiled. I've had Larry Pleau, Dave Taylor and Doug Armstrong around me; that's 40 years of experience around me in the GM chair every day. Most guys get one of those. I had three. I was in a breeding ground is what I was, and they're all good people too, and that's one of the most important things."
Here are Five Questions with … Bill Armstrong:
You said last week you've never taken a job in your life where you've felt more comfortable. What made you say that?
"Well one, it's the plan that I developed. After my interview process with another team, I went back to my office and I sat there for two weeks and never left. I wrote out everything I knew that was important to me and I developed the plan. When I was about halfway through, Arizona picked up the phone and called me. I said, 'OK, let me start preparing for you guys.' When I walked through the door, I knew exactly what I had to do. That helped me.
"No matter what room I'm in, whether I'm with the coaches, the scouts, the players or the owners, I've gotten comfortable in all those different rooms."

Is there an update on the arena situation in Arizona, and was that a concern of yours during the interview process?
"It wasn't, because I met the owner. You hear all these rumors and whatever, but you get a chance to meet with him and it's a little bit different than you think. I was so impressed because of the simple fact that you go into meet him and you're like, 'Oh, so you actually own a bank. Oh, you actually own two casinos, and the NHL sold you an NHL team.' You know how hard it is to own a bank and be trusted? And then you own two casinos? … If you can do that, you can build your own rink. He's very capable. That's the way that I thought."
You mention identity a lot, and it's such a popular word used by coaches and GMs. What do you want the Coyotes' identity to be?
"Well, if you're a talented player on the Coyotes and you're one of our top talented guys, you've got to give first and second efforts. You've got to bleed, because if you're just another talented player that shows up to be a talented player, that means you're going to be a good player on a bad team. We need our talent to bleed."
I know you're embracing this challenge, but just how great of a challenge is it between the NHL salary cap and the lack of draft picks the Coyotes have (four in 2020 NHL Draft, none in first three rounds)?
"It is challenging, but I want to tell you this: I knew what I was getting into before, so it's not like it's a surprise thrown up on my doorstep. I know exactly what's going on, and there's no excuses.
"The highest I ever picked when I ran the draft for 10 years with St. Louis was at [No.] 20. That's the highest. So, we've got to find players in the draft no matter where we're picking. There's other avenues to get players, so we've got to make sure that we use every single avenue to get players."
Sometimes when a team loses in the playoffs, people say that their window has closed. What's your take on that? Can you build a team with a plan to be successful long-term, or because of the salary cap do you need to think more on a year-to-year basis?
"It's definitely long-term. It's proper planning. … You know, if we do it properly and we don't use excuses and we grind and find, then what's going to happen is you're going to see we want to be like the St. Louis Blues, we want to be like the Tampa Bay Lightning. The Tampa Bay Lightning for us are a great example. They've gone from being in the same situation that we are to [former GM] Steve Yzerman taking over and doing a phenomenal job and rebuilding as quick as possible."
Photo courtesy of Norm Hall/Arizona Coyotes